Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
The price isn't determined by cost, which only sets a bottom below which the price can't fall without losing money. The price will be determined by the market...what people are willing to pay.
|
Say it again. People won't listen, but keep saying it anyway. The price of a book is not now, nor has it EVER been, about the cost of printing -- nor of storage, nor of returns.
eBooks take out some of the cost of a book -- but not as much as people think. HOWEVER, that's still IRRELEVANT. The price was not EVER a function of the cost of making the book.
I wonder at the anger ebook pricing has generated and I think I've come to a conclusion. Amazon, by subsidizing those cost of ebooks -- got folks into the "first run" market that had NEVER been purchasers of first run books. The mass market paper back book buyer was suddenly buying ebooks during the first run hard back book time frame.
It fit their sensibilities as they NEVER bought a novel for $24 or $30. The publishers who were selling MILLIONS of those hard back books to people who really did pay those prices -- put a stop to Amazon's predatory pricing practice.
And NOW you got a lot of angry paper back book buyers who feel shafted. They got a taste of the good life -- getting new release books -- paying their cheap paper back book price.
Well, back to the year wait for such folks. You never were new book buyers before and you won't be now.
Lee